Putin: US and Russia security services should "combine efforts" in wake of Boston bombing

In a move absolutely no one expected because things like this never happen after high-profile incidents of mass violence, Russian President Vladimir Putin today "urged closer cooperation between other countries' security services after the Boston Marathon bombings," reports CNN, Said Putin, "If we combine our efforts, we will not suffer blows like that." [CNN.com]

27 Responses to “Putin: US and Russia security services should "combine efforts" in wake of Boston bombing”

Given the earlier news that the FSB had already contacted the US (not sure if they went to the CIA or FBI) about these guys, I guess this is a restrained way of saying “you might actually want to listen to us”.

Fun fact: the Russians also warned us that sending troops to Afghanistan would turn into an unwinnable clusterfuck. We have a history of ignoring their advice on matters in which they’re the undisputed (if unsavory) experts.

Hmm… Because Russia is definitely a natural partner when it comes to avoiding security issues related to Chechnya, something they are entirely excellent at…

Even if our little band of brothers turns out to have been directly motivated by some Chechen angle, rather than merely from the area, our ‘mostly staying the hell away from Russia’s ghastly quagmire’ strategy still has us at least two, probably more like three factors of ten ahead in terms of avoiding casualties.

Then again, getting into long bloody wars in muslim areas is hardly a Russian monopoly – if anything, it’s kind of odd how reluctant the US has been to cooperate with Russia, e.g. in Afghanistan (though I suspect the Russians would rather forget that particular affair). There seems to be some overlapping goals and problems.

Do you think the Russians were sad to watch us march, in a fit of jingoistic insanity, into a country we knew was an unwinnable sandtrap hellhole because we worked hard to make it into one that they would fall into, back in the day?

the dirty bastard knows whats brewing in his backyard and fears a martyr status might inspire more acts of terrorism also against him. russia has been abusing and torturing the chechen people for decades…

I remember an NPR interview of a package delivery guy that claimed Cheney had somebody follow and investigate him after he’d left a package at Cheney’s home. The delivery guy assumed it was because he looked sort of “ethnic”.

But then again, if it gave him the chance to exterminate Muslim Chechens…

If there are religious hardliners in Chechnya it is probably more because of Saudi Arabia’s outreach, so I doubt they’d look to Iran. From what I understand, Chechens, like Albanians, are Sufi, who historically have been an extremely independent minded and hard to control groups. Neither the Ottomans, the first Yugoslavia or the Socialist Yugoslavia had much luck with controling the moutain terrains and the Ottomans had constant problems with Albanians in that area. Tito couldn’t control the region either, even after he sent in the Imams from Sarajevo to keep them in check.

I’m unsure what you mean by “like Albania”? Poor? With high unemployment? Cause I think Chechnya already has that in abundance, I’m sure. If you want radicals, that’s how to make them. It’s not like you just drop a religious text in someone’s lap and that’s all it takes…

Putin’s message fits with the most likely motivation for the Boston bombing, a secret trade-off between Russia and the US:

The US will stop supporting Chechen rebels (from now on they will be labelled “Al Qaeda in the Caucasus”) and give Russia carte blanche (or even actively help Russia) “solve” its Chechnya problem once and for all. In return, Russia stops supporting Assad and pulls out of Syria altogether, paving the way for a pro-western regime change.

The Boston bombing was necessary to sell such a 180-degree change of US policy regarding Chechnya to the public.

I don’t know know enough about the situation in Chechnya to know the details, but I think this is about right. Governments all over the world have been classifying anything they feel is a threat as “Al-Qaeda wherever” and it gives them cover for whatever nastiness they wish to do. Like all we had to do in the CW was say “IT’S A COMMIE, THERE UNDER THAT ROCK” and that was supposed to justify whatever we did…

You really think that the majority of US citizens possess an understanding of foreign affairs nuanced enough to require bloodshed to sell them on the US stopping supporting Chechen rebels? A couple days ago I noticed a couple of papers putting out ‘primers’ on Chechnia and ‘that part of the world’, with titles like ‘just where are the Boston bombers from anyhow?`. While your theory of the motivation may make sense, the idea that Joe the Plumber needed to be convinced to tolerate a foreign policy change seems woefully optimistic.

The idea of a multi-national security state gives me the warm fuzzy to end all warm fuzzies. Because who doesn’t like the idea of the CIA and the FSB and all the other national agencies all cuddling up together to create the perfect global surveillance apparatus?
Exits left singing “Democracy and tyranny, live together in perfect harmony …”